Hat, Chapeau, Sombrero
by duchess93309
Summary: Aisha finally asked one of the questions that had been plaguing her since she met the enigmatic sniper. "What's the deal with your hat?"


Hat, Chapeau, Sombrero

They were spending the afternoon in Pooch and Jolene's backyard when it happened. Aisha finally asked one of the questions that had been plaguing her since she met the enigmatic sniper. "What's the deal with your hat?" A seemingly innocuous question to most, but in this case it opened the doorway for memories for the rest of the assembled group. 

*Flashback* 

They were having a barbecue in the backyard of Pooch and Jolene's new home. Clay and Roque were arguing over how to cook the burgers. Jolene was refilling the cooler with ice. Pooch was keeping Jensen busy by playing catch. Cougar was sitting in silence on one of the brand new lounge chairs, thinking. 

Cougar doesn't remember when he got it. It had been a part of his life for longer than he can remember, before he was Cougar even. He ran his fingers over the faded black ball cap, his expression filled with more love than when he caressed his rifle. The bill of the hat was hanging on by a thread and was faded to grey at all of the seams. With a muffled curse he watches as the final thread snaps and the bill falls into his lap. 

Jolene watches as Cougar's composure slips a fraction at the death of his hat. She hates the slight look of defeat on the Spaniard's face. _If only I could actually sew…then maybe I could fix it._

Pooch has never seen Cougar without his hat; he seemed almost naked without it_. I don't think that my usual fix of duct tape will work in this case. __  
_

Roque never understood the sniper's attachment to the frayed old ball cap. _Good riddance_. 

Clay knew that Cougar had been a little quieter since his hat started to fall into pieces but he hoped that it wouldn't affect his sniper's job. 

Jensen, the one who's brain to mouth filter seemed to never have been installed, just said, "Looks like the hat's time of death is 1532." The glares thrown his way by Jolene and Pooch caused him to flinch. _I guess that was too soon._ Cougar threw a sad glance his way and quietly entered the house. _Way too soon. I'm not going to be able to make it up to him.__  
_

The next day Jolene had a brilliant idea. She needed to go to the mall to pick up some furniture she'd had on back order. She decided to take Jensen to help her get the new table and chairs into the car. She found him laying on the couch in the living room, staring at the ceiling in silence. In reality he was trying to brainstorm a way to either fix Cougar's hat, he lacked the sewing skills, or find a way to make it up to his friend. "Jake, will you please come with me to the mall? I need some help picking up the new dining set," Jolene said. Mumbling his assent, he pulled his shoes on. They all loved Jolene too much to say no to her. The silence in the car was unnerving to Jolene. She'd never gone this long without hearing the hacker babble on about something or other. 

As soon as the car was parked Jensen hopped out and headed toward the department store that he knew Jolene had ordered the furniture from. Jolene quickly grabbed his elbow and pointed him to a nearby leather store. 

"What…?" was all that Jensen managed as Jolene just shook her head and continued into the store. The fresh, clean smell of leather was everywhere in the store. "I'd like to see all of your hats," Jolene told the young man behind the counter. The young clerk quickly and efficiently began pulling hats down from the walls. "Pick one Jake," Jolene said. 

Realization dawned on Jensen's face. _So, this is what she's been planning._ He began to examine the hats closely. There were biker hats, pageboy hats, baseball caps, and pirate hats but none of them seemed to be the right one for Cougar. Jensen rejected dozens of hats until the clerk looked ready to scream. "This is our last one," the young man said. As he pulled it out Jensen's smile bloomed across his face. "It's perfect."

Later that night, after dinner, Cougar was sitting on that same lounge chair looking up at the stars when a box blocked his view. Jensen quickly blurted out, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I know that your hat was important to you. I don't know why, and I know that I shouldn't ask, so I won't. But I thought that maybe this might help. Oh, and you should thank Jolene for helping me find it." As his verbal flood came to a close, Jensen gently perched on the edge of the lounge chair near Cougar's feet. 

Cougar quickly untied the string from around the box and gently opened the lid to peer inside. There was just enough light from the house behind them for Cougar to see the hat inside of the box. It was a dark brown leather almost cowboy style hat with a full brim. Cougar gently removed it from the box and placed it on his head.

"Perfect," whispered Jensen.

Cougar glanced up from under the brim of the hat and smiled, a full smile, at Jensen. "Gracias Jake," he whispered. Their matching smiles could have lit the entire night sky.

*Present*

"Someone I love gave it to me," Cougar said. Jensen just blushed.


End file.
